Teacher accused of secretly recording girls changing inside closet

NASHVILLE, Tenn — A teacher was arrested for allegedly making more than 50 videos of girls changing clothes inside a closet at a Nashville elementary school.

Police arrested Jarrett Jones, 30, on Monday after hundreds of images of young girls and the videos were found on a hard drive at his Antioch home, according to WSMV.

According to an affidavit, Jones created more than 50 videos on a hard drive that were made inside a closet of the music room at Napier Elementary School. Jones was the music teacher at the school from 2011-2015 before becoming an assistant director of band at Antioch High School.

During an interview with police, Jones admitted to recording around 20 students while at Napier Elementary and having those videos on a hard drive at his home.

When police examined the hard drive, they found more than 50 videos in a folder titled “Napier.” Police said each video appeared to be titled the first name of the student in the video and appeared to have been taken in the closet at Napier Elementary. According to police, there appeared to be at least 40 different minor females in the videos.

Police also found more than 1,000 sexually explicit images of minors that appeared to have been downloaded from an external source unrelated to the school.

Jones is charged with two counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor for making the videos and three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, over 100 items, for the images found.

The investigation began after Jones asked a colleague at Antioch High to help him with a computer problem. According to police, the colleague saw questionable items on the computer and notified authorities.

According to the affidavit, Jones had a recording device that looked like a thumb drive in the closet of the music room.

In the affidavit, Metro police describe the first video in the folder. Police said the elementary school-aged female entered the closet with Jones, who handed her a Napier choir shirt to try on. After Jones left, the girl removed her coat and school shirt, leaving on her training bra, and puts on the choir shirt and leaves the closet. The girl returned to the closet with Jones, who touched her shoulder where her training bra strap would be. He talked to the girl for a while and then left. The girl then took off the shirt and removed her training bra. The girl then put the choir shirt back on and left the closet. She later returned to change back into her school clothing.

After analyzing the videos, police identified the majority of the children were secretly recorded at Napier Elementary. They now attend several different schools.

Police said forensic interviews and clinical therapists arranged through the Nashville Children’s Alliance were at 12 schools on Monday and talked with several students.

The school system placed Jones on administrative leave earlier this month as the investigation began, according to the police department’s news release.

Jones is being held on a $100,000 bond. Police expect additional charges to be filed against him. His first court appearance is set for Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.

Metro police will hold a news conference at 5 p.m. with additional details on Jones’ arrest.

Metro Schools issued the following statement concerning the arrest:

An Antioch High School teacher who formerly served as a music teacher at Napier Elementary School was placed on administrative leave on September 9, 2016. This action took place as a result of an allegation the principal of Antioch High received about possible inappropriate conduct involving students at Napier. Because of today’s events, the building principal, and her executive leadership, will be recommending dismissal to Dr. Joseph. The teacher has had no contact with students since being placed on leave.

All employees are required to report concerns such as these to the proper authorities. The fellow teacher who discovered this situation acted exactly as is required by law and district policy.

We are devastated by the news of this investigation and are doing everything we can to help Metro Police and the District Attorney. We are also working with the District Attorney’s office as well as the Nashville Children’s Alliance to communicate with and counsel the affected families, and we expect it to be an ongoing process.

Obviously this is a very difficult and sensitive situation, and we will respect our students’ and families’ right to privacy as Police and the DA pursue this matter.